Seattle's Chinatown Gate
Work is moving along on The Chinatown Murders. At the time of this writing, I only have nine scenes left to write on the first draft. Of course, in the second draft I’m likely to add things (I can already think of two scenes that are missing) and take stuff out, but it’s a good start. I expect to complete the first draft this week.
Which brings me to you, dear friend. It’s time to put some effort into the book’s cover. I am publishing six photos here and would like your input about which you think would make the best book cover.
Which picture do you think matches the theme of the book best? I’d love to hear your opinions. Please drop me a note at www.pennwallace.com to vote on your favorite by sending me the photo number.
To give you an idea of what the book is about (in case you’ve been living in a cave for the last few months), here’s the first draft of the book cover description:
Catrina Flaherty is up to her ears in rape and murder.
Someone is raping women working at message parlors in China Town. He selects his victims because they are undocumented aliens. They can’t go to the police or they risk deportation.
Now he has escalated to murder.
What do you do when you can’t go to the police?
You call Cat Flaherty.
But Cat is also in love. Has she finally found her perfect match?
Chris has his hands full with his first murder case. Ted’s little brother, Carlito, has been framed by an old nemesis and Chris must find the truth.
With a shock ending that you’ll never predict, the latest Cartrina Flaherty novel is a page burner.
Which brings me to you, dear friend. It’s time to put some effort into the book’s cover. I am publishing six photos here and would like your input about which you think would make the best book cover.
Which picture do you think matches the theme of the book best? I’d love to hear your opinions. Please drop me a note at www.pennwallace.com to vote on your favorite by sending me the photo number.
To give you an idea of what the book is about (in case you’ve been living in a cave for the last few months), here’s the first draft of the book cover description:
Catrina Flaherty is up to her ears in rape and murder.
Someone is raping women working at message parlors in China Town. He selects his victims because they are undocumented aliens. They can’t go to the police or they risk deportation.
Now he has escalated to murder.
What do you do when you can’t go to the police?
You call Cat Flaherty.
But Cat is also in love. Has she finally found her perfect match?
Chris has his hands full with his first murder case. Ted’s little brother, Carlito, has been framed by an old nemesis and Chris must find the truth.
With a shock ending that you’ll never predict, the latest Cartrina Flaherty novel is a page burner.
Last week I wrote about how difficult it is to get inside the mind of a serial killer. In The Chinatown Murders I write the killer's scenes from his point of view. I'm scared to say that I’m getting into it and his scenes are becoming easier and easier to write.
Members of my writers group seem to be enjoying this perspective. They say he’s easy to hate, that he’s a truly bizarre character. I haven’t read too many books from the villain’s perspective (I know that James Patterson has done this), so this is going to be unique.
In the meantime I have to make an appointment with my shrink to get him out of my head.
As I get close to finishing the first draft, it will soon be time to call for beta readers. I ask a dozen or so true believers to read the second draft of the book and send me their comments. I want to know if the characters and technology are believable. Does the plot move along at a good pace. What slows it down? Am I missing any information? Am I telling you too much?
This kind of feedback is invaluable to making the best book possible and enhance the readers enjoyment. If you’re interested in being a beta reader, I’ll put the call out next week. But be sure to respond quickly. I usually have more volunteers than I can accommodate.
Thanks for all of your help. It truly takes a village to raise a book.
In case you’re wondering what’s around the bend as I get close to finishing the first draft of The Chinatown Murders, you’re in luck. Next up on my list is a new Ted Higuera book. I don’t even have a working title yet, but it’s about an ISIS cyber attack on America. (By the way, this plot was suggested by a reader. Be sure to send me your ideas and see if they make it into a book.)
The Islamic radicals stop pacemakers, hack into cars, erase bank information and shut down power grids. The authorities are seemingly helpless to stop these attacks. But the terrorist didn’t count on one thing.
Ted Higuera.
Ted goes to war with ISIS trying to shut down the cyber attacks and put’s his life on the line in service of his country.
I don’t know exactly how the story is going to roll out yet, but I’ve been doing research in my spare time. You’re gonna love it.
Members of my writers group seem to be enjoying this perspective. They say he’s easy to hate, that he’s a truly bizarre character. I haven’t read too many books from the villain’s perspective (I know that James Patterson has done this), so this is going to be unique.
In the meantime I have to make an appointment with my shrink to get him out of my head.
As I get close to finishing the first draft, it will soon be time to call for beta readers. I ask a dozen or so true believers to read the second draft of the book and send me their comments. I want to know if the characters and technology are believable. Does the plot move along at a good pace. What slows it down? Am I missing any information? Am I telling you too much?
This kind of feedback is invaluable to making the best book possible and enhance the readers enjoyment. If you’re interested in being a beta reader, I’ll put the call out next week. But be sure to respond quickly. I usually have more volunteers than I can accommodate.
Thanks for all of your help. It truly takes a village to raise a book.
In case you’re wondering what’s around the bend as I get close to finishing the first draft of The Chinatown Murders, you’re in luck. Next up on my list is a new Ted Higuera book. I don’t even have a working title yet, but it’s about an ISIS cyber attack on America. (By the way, this plot was suggested by a reader. Be sure to send me your ideas and see if they make it into a book.)
The Islamic radicals stop pacemakers, hack into cars, erase bank information and shut down power grids. The authorities are seemingly helpless to stop these attacks. But the terrorist didn’t count on one thing.
Ted Higuera.
Ted goes to war with ISIS trying to shut down the cyber attacks and put’s his life on the line in service of his country.
I don’t know exactly how the story is going to roll out yet, but I’ve been doing research in my spare time. You’re gonna love it.
RSS Feed